Believe it or not, the German Civil Code has a specific statute that is to be applied in the event that two or more swarms flee their hives at approximately the same time and, while properly being pursued by their respective owners in order to preserve their ownership rights, merge to form one larger swarm. Should that happen—and I’d very much like to know if it ever has—the owners split the bees:
If bee swarms of more than one owner that have moved out merge, the owners who have pursued their swarms become co-owners of the total swarm captured; the shares are determined according to the number of swarms pursued.
So, let’s say five swarms are on the move, followed by four beekeepers flailing around with bee nets (obviously I know nothing about beekeeping). Beekeepers A and B are each pursuing one swarm. C is pursuing two different swarms that tried to flee his place at the same time, while D was just driving by and has never owned a bee in his life.
He just finished beekeeping school, or something. Meanwhile, Beekeeper E is sitting at home not pursuing his swarm, which is one of the five. If all five swarms merge and the resulting überSchwärm is captured, what happens?
What happens is that some German lawyers are about to make a bunch of money, that’s what happens.
German Civil Code § 963 (“Merging of bee swarms”).
Copied from https://boingboing.net/2014/02/28/german-beekeeping-laws-are-wei.html, which itself is an excerpt from "The Emergency Sasquatch Ordinance," https://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1627222693/downandoutint-20
No comments:
Post a Comment